Penn State vs Ohio State: Urban Meyer has respect for Nittany Lion defense

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer is coming into his Saturday afternoon tilt against the Penn State Nittany Lions with tons of respect for his opponent.

Despite being 7-0 with Braxton Miller leading the charge as a Heisman hopeful, Meyer feels that Miller and the rest of his team will be in for a fight against Bill O'Brien's defense, according to Philly.com.

"I have great admiration for Penn State," he said. "They beat us at our home stadium last year. So make no mistakes. I know maybe when you have a new staff, you have a couple of things happen. But this is still Penn State.

Meyer is very taken back by the player of senior linebacker Michael Mauti, who has really taken on the leadership role for Penn State.

"I recruited him really hard at Florida and loved him as a high school athlete," he said. "When I was at ESPN, I went up and talked to him. He's a tough guy, a leader. I love his family. He's playing his tail off after a knee injury. He's got that type of [leadership] personality."

The Nittany Lions have being playing some really inspired football lately, reeling off five straight victories with perhaps the most impressive coming last week in a road win over the Iowa Hawkeyes, 38-14. Now, both non-bowl eligible teams will duke it out to see exactly where they stand in the Big Ten.

The two squads are the only two remaining undefeated teams in the conference's Legends Division.